4 Simple Ways to Boost Your Sales and Get Customers to Buy

Increasing sales takes work. Hard work. But such hard work is a necessary part of running a business. Finding new ways to get customers lined up at the cash register is something that business owners dream of, strategize about and obsess over day and night.

As a business owner interested in increasing your sales you’ve probably heard of hundreds of new can’t-miss approaches. However, sometimes the best ways to increase sales are not new and/or necessarily innovative, but instead are simply new ways of utilizing what you already have.

Here are four simple approaches to sales you may not be using to their full extent that, with a little hard work, can be highly effective in boosting sales conversions and getting customers to buy.

Create Special Offers for Past Users

If you haven’t (or have barely) harnessed the power of past customers, it’s time to put the power of familiarity to work for your business. The fact is that past customers are your most profitable demographic, because they have already been convinced of the worth of your product or service. They trust your brand and they are the most primed to spend money on it again. A great way to bring past customers back to the checkout stand is to reward them with special deals; maybe offer them an exclusive look at a new product before the public sees it and offer a special discount if they act before the release date. Identifying someone as a “preferred customer” and essentially telling them you appreciate their business over someone who has not purchased from you before fosters a sense of loyalty. This will bring customers back to your brand and can lead to a surprising amount of sales.

Offer Another Payment Option

Oftentimes something small in the payment process can prevent a customer from completing a sale, especially online. If you only accept credit cards, consider offering PayPal or Moneybookers as other options, to ease the concerns of customers who fear entering credit card information on an unfamiliar website. If you sell in person, but lack access to a traditional register or credit card processing terminal, be sure to check out the options for smart phone credit card readers from Square and PayPal. Missing out on a sale at a trade show because you don’t accept credit cards should never happen to you again. For online sellers, another easy change is to simply make payment easier, cut down on the steps between clicking “Buy This” and actually submitting payment information. You will be surprised how many people don’t follow through with purchases simply because they don’t feel like clicking through too many steps.

Solid Email Newsletter Campaigns

Many businesses already implement email blasts through services like Constant Contact and Mail Chimp, because they know successful and consistent newsletters have been proven to increase click-throughs and sales. But remember, if readers feel they’re being sent a constant sales pitch (no matter how it’s phrased) they will not be interested in, or will quickly lose interest, receiving your newsletters. The key to email newsletters today is providing value by giving away meaningful insight and creative ideas, alongside with useful applications of your products or special deals. There are too many other newsletters and spam filters out there that will keep your newsletters from reaching your customer’s eyes for you not to have a solid email campaign in place. You can’t afford to send anything but the most useful content. A newsletter campaign that focuses on providing valuable information to your customer will prove its worth in the resulting increase in sales. To check your spam status, be sure to run your email through a free spam checker like the Lyris Content Checker.

Leverage Places and Check-In Deals on Facebook

Almost all businesses already have social media pages, but many don’t take full advantage of their opportunities for directly increasing conversions. Increasing Facebook likes do not equate to higher sales. But offering customers deals that they can claim through Facebook (and which will be posted on their newsfeed and attract their friends), now THAT can lead to revenue with viral possibilities. Facebook Check-in Deals allow you to create deals that not only attract new customers, but reward your loyal customers. Moreover, if you own a traditional brick and mortar store, consider claiming your business on Facebook Places, so that you can track people who visit your store and merge your Facebook Page with your location.